BA in Philosophy
Explore the profound questions of existence, engage in conversations, and explore a world of ideas.
Forever surrounded by mysteries of life, some things become so obvious that they are hidden from us. How do you know that you aren’t dreaming? Are you the same person who started reading this sentence? Why exactly is murder wrong, and how do we know it? What makes something beautiful, or ugly, or awkward?
The BA in Philosophy programme at Azim Premji University prepares you to answer hidden questions. We start by wondering about the big questions and sharpen these wonderings to reach a clear argument. You will learn to find your own alternate views. Along the way, you will pick up rare and vital capabilities like communicating clearly, working with colleagues who profoundly disagree with you, coming up with your ideas and testing them thoroughly.
You will practice applying your insights and capabilities to the world around you through seminar discussions and field placements, making a meaningful impact on the world around you.
Who should join us?
At Azim Premji University join us if you are looking for a programme that nurtures your philosophical abilities for practical application in diverse social contexts and helps you reason with care, communicate with people with different views, and present your ideas clearly. You will develop critical reasoning, effective communication, argumentation, and analytical skills. We aim to develop curiosity and empathy in your intellectual pursuits and a commitment to public service. We equip you with creative problem-solving skills, drawing on insights from global academic leaders and practitioners.
Why study with us?
We offer Interdisciplinary Openness
Our programmes encourage you to explore and follow your interests. We design our courses to ensure that you can specialise in a subject of your choice while learning various subjects across disciplines.
A Common Curriculum for all students
You will meet all your classmates at the beginning of your course to build all the tools you need for your four years of study. This includes foundational courses, an understanding of India, interdisciplinary studies, and courses in creative expressions.
We provide Academic Assistance
Our consistent academic assistance through language support, peer tutoring, faculty mentorship, etc., ensures that you meet the programme’s academic requirements.
We ensure Financial Support
We extend need-based financial assistance to students that cover tuition and accommodation expenses.
Programme Structure
Course Structure
The Common Curriculum will introduce students to the study of the themes and areas that emphasise and build critical and analytical abilities, and sensibilities for dialogue, reflection and cooperative learning. The Common Curriculum has three sub-components organised as below:
Foundations: Build capacity for critical thinking, reasoning and communication.
Understanding India: India’s history, society and possible future.
Creative Expressions
As an essential component of the core curriculum, Creative Expressions courses utilise artistic mediums, sports, and embodied learning to cultivate creativity, foster social cohesion, and build resilience. Encouraging students to take risks in unfamiliar disciplines, these courses nurture curiosity, self-discovery, and overall well-being. Through Creative Expressions, students are empowered to participate with meaningful social connection, fostering a community of active and responsible citizens.
In the core courses, you will work on themes that help you learn rigour, creativity and self-examination.
Knowledge, Value, and Reality
Disciplinary Major
Develop essential skills like engaging with opposing viewpoints, clarity of expression, and the foundations for rigorous creativity.
Science Fiction and Mind
Disciplinary Major
Explore questions about the nature of the mind and consciousness through works of science fiction.
Ethics
Disciplinary Major
Challenge your own views and broaden your perspective by critically examining your ethical stances on diverse issues.
Political Philosophy
Disciplinary Major
Explore the dynamic realm of politics by thoughtfully engaging with your preferred ideologies and confront compelling arguments in favor of opposing viewpoints.
Philosophy of Science
Disciplinary Major
Explore questions about how natural and social science work.
Philosophy for Children
Disciplinary Major
Engage in philosophical inquiry with a wider audience than the academic setting of the university.
Reasoning
Disciplinary Major
Get introduced to techniques for evaluating and understanding reasoning.
Power and Agency
Disciplinary Major
Explore power dynamics through in-depth analysis of influential thinkers, like Marx, Weber, Freud, Lacan, Adorno, Gramsci, Foucault, etc.
Understanding Reality
Disciplinary Major
Analise some of our most fundamental assumptions about the nature of the world.
Environmental Philosophy
Disciplinary Major
Understand the current discourse on pressing environmental philosophical questions.
Students must be prepared for the world of work at the end of the programme should they choose to enter it. We aim to provide the required skills and competencies for this through a Minor featuring courses in an Occupational or Interdisciplinary theme. These sets of courses are aimed to provide both conceptual understanding and skills and tools that will allow students to contribute through work and further study.
Students can opt for a minor in any one of the indicative areas listed below:
- Education
- Media and Journalism
- Data and Democracy
- Sports and Fitness
- Climate Studies
- Arts
The selection of these indicative areas is based on the availability of courses and our evaluation of the student’s interests and academic needs. For each cohort, a final list of available courses will be announced at the end of their second semester.
Students can craft their own educational experience by selecting courses in the following ways:
- Students will have the option to take additional courses in their Disciplinary Major
- Interdisciplinary Minor that will enable them for their further higher studies or career pathways.
These courses could also be selected to enhance and broaden their
- Language skills and Quantitative reasoning capacities/programming skills.
- Understanding of themes outside their Major subject.
Classroom Practices
Our classroom practices are innovative and draw upon learner’s experiences and observations, accessible learning content, adaptive skill development and technology or software aids that cater to distinct learning needs and capabilities of students, including those with specific learning disabilities or with developing English language competencies.
Publications
- Menon, T. & Stegenga, J. (2023). Sisyphean science: why value freedom is worth pursuing. European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 13, 48.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13194-023 - Stegenga, J. & Menon, T. (2023). The difference-to-inference model for values in science. Res Philosophica, 100(4), 423 – 447. https://doi.org/10.5840/resphilosophica2023928102
- Lima, J. (2021). How can Millians believe in superheroes? Organon F: Medzinárodný Časopis Pre Analytickú Filozofiu, 28(1), 135 – 167. https://doi.org/10.31577/orgf.2021.28107
- Lima, J. (2018). Indexicality and action: Why we need indexical beliefs to motivate intentional actions. Inquiry, 64(7), 711 – 731. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020174X.2018.1487881
- Lima, J. (2016). Frege’s Puzzle (original title: ‘O Enigma de Frege’), Revista Fundamento, 1, 39 – 73. https://periodicos.ufop.br/fundamento/article/view/2434/1783
- Chaturvedi, A. (2016). Harmonia and ṛtá. In R. Seaford (Ed.), Universe and Inner Self in Early Indian and Early Greek Thought (pp. 40 – 54). Edinburgh University Press.
- Lima, J. (2014). Herman Cappelen, Josh Dever, The Inessential Indexical. Polish Journal of Philosophy, 8(2), 77 – 80. https://doi.org/10.5840/pjphil20148213
- Siddiqui, A. (2016, December). Archiving dance: Memory, body and affect. Ligament Dance Magazine, 2(3). https://ligament.in/volume2/memory-body-affect.html
- Siddiqui, A. (2016, November). Methods of defiance: In conversation with Venuri Perera. Ligament Dance Magazine, 2(2). https://ligament.in/volume2/methods-of-defiance.html
Events
- Discussion: Are you the same person you were as a child?
- Conference: Current debates in Philosophy of Science
